Sh**box Rally drivers reach Darwin for charity auction after epic road trip

After eight days on the road, a fleet of cheap and cheerful clunkers pulls into the Darwin Showgrounds covered in rust, dust, flags and fur.

The weary and relieved drivers honk their horns and rev their engines as they roll to a stop — but the fun isn't over yet.

Saturday is auction day, and some of these beloved 'shitboxes' are about to find their forever homes.

'I'm not going to say too much about her because she's got to be auctioned off,' said Nicole from Coffs Harbour on the NSW Mid-North Coast, patting the boot of her Ford Focus.

'She got through the Gibb River Road, so if she can do that, she can do anything.'

Organisers estimate over 500 drivers took part in the winter 2025 edition of the Shitbox Rally, driving from Perth to Darwin in cars worth less than $1,500 apiece.

'We've built a really unique community. We've put strangers together only eight days ago, and now they're lifelong friends,' founder James Freeman said.

But while the showgrounds are bursting with pride and camaraderie, the fundraiser was born from tragedy.

The latest event brought in more than $2.6 million for cancer research, taking the overall amount raised by Shitbox Rally events to nearly $57 million over the past 15 years.

'The motivation is a heartbreaking personal story — I lost both of my parents to cancer within 12 months,' Mr Freeman said.

'Probably about 80 or 90 per cent of people that do the rally do it in honour of somebody that they've loved and lost, or someone who is battling cancer.'

For Carmen and Brendan from Werribee in Victoria, the cause is close to home in more ways than one.

'I was affected by cancer; 14 years ago I had breast cancer,' Carmen said.

Their car, a repurposed taxi named Olaf the Shitbox, had seen them through four rallies before it died coming into Darwin on Friday night.

Also among the rally's entrants was Finnish ambassador to Australia Arto Haapea, driving The Happiest Car in the World, a blue Toyota Camry adorned with flags, rainbows, and Finnish cartoons.

As the auction begins, buyers gather to bid for cars, and Darwin local Michael ends up taking home two.

While some of the cars might be on the brink of collapse, many entrants are already turning their minds to the next event — a spring rally from Alice Springs to Brisbane.

'Being Australians, we have a tendency to want a challenge and also to self-deprecate, to laugh at ourselves and the situation,' Mr Freeman said.